Tablet for navigation - Android or iOS?

[ctva]

We use an iPad onboard for 8years for close in pilotage with Antares / UKHO Charts along side the main plotter. Also used for weather, tides, streaming stuff etc. Apple just works (for us).

 

[B27]

We use an iPad onboard for 8years for close in pilotage with Antares / UKHO Charts along side the main plotter. Also used for weather, tides, streaming stuff etc. Apple just works (for us).

Is Antares just 'The North'?
What app are you running the UKHO charts on?

 

[dunedin]

Is Antares just 'The North'?
What app are you running the UKHO charts on?

Yes, Antares Charts covers only key anchorages, in superb detail, across the West & North of Scotland. These are raster charts.
Can be run on many apps, but most use MemoryMap for Antares, and can get UKHO raster charts for this to complement Antares.

 

[jlavery]

From a developer's point of view number of devices available/sold is irrelevant. Many Android devices are trash, and given to kids as babysitters. Propensity to install and pay for an app or in app purchase is more important, and the reason the vast majority of apps start on the Apple platform.
You're also not dealing with the population as a whole, you're dealing with "wealthy" yachties so percentage of iPhones is higher than in the population.

Finally, you're not asking the yachting community. The forums here are frequented by beardy old men who are far more likely to tell you they use paper charts than admit to owning a phone more recent than a Nokia 3310.

Good luck with your quest. I recommend asking the cruising forums on Facebook for better data.

Thanks, as a cross platform mobile developer, I'm aware of the demographics. Also fully aware that the Android stats include many crap, cheap and plain weird implementations.

 

[Porthandbuoy]

There’s another drawback to Android devices and that’s finding a really good, rugged, waterproof case. At least with an iPad, you have choices, mine is an Armor-x.

 

[jlavery]

There’s another drawback to Android devices and that’s finding a really good, rugged, waterproof case. At least with an iPad, you have choices, mine is an Armor-x.

Indeed - although it's my understanding that there are some decent rugged Android devices which don't need a case (there are already threads covering this).

 

[ylop]

I got a reconditioned tablet from London Chartplotters. a year or two back, It's OK, but I'm not a great fan of the plotter software. I wanted to switch to Navionics, but the tablet runs an old version of Android, so no go. It's a good tablet, but it's something to be aware of if you're tempted to go down that route

If anyone is considering this tell Steve at LondonChartPlotters and he will steer you towards the right models with a more recent OS. He’s very helpful, even if his website looks like it was made by a school kid in 1993.

Both.
But last time we were out, I fired up an old handheld GPS, slapped in a waypoint and preferred a nice simple display of COG, SOG DTW and BRG. Viewable in bright sunlight across the cockpit while busy actually sailing the boat.

The 'toys' are great for pilotage, but you have to ask yourself how you will operate the boat if things get difficult.
What will it be like if green water is flying around? Or proper heavy rain?
We did have some issues with the Samsung tablet going into some sort of limpdim mode due to the hot sun. And that was Devon, not Cyprus. In September.

Certainly the Samsung Galaxy Active tabs that Steve uses seem to be able to cope with rain and spray I have subjected them to. Sunlight viewable, waterproof, cheap. The software he provides is pretty clunky though but for all you old duffers who like raster charts probably ideal! Set up right most good plotter software can display SOG, DTW, BRG etc.

There’s another drawback to Android devices and that’s finding a really good, rugged, waterproof case. At least with an iPad, you have choices, mine is an Armor-x.

I am in many things in life an Apple fan, but the fact you feel the need to protect it tells a story in itself.

 

[B27]

To me, the tablets are a planning tool and a bit of an aid when underway.
It's not something I'm relying on to survive, so I'm not that concerned about it not surviving on deck in a deluge, because it doesn't need to be there..
I have a phone which doesn't owe me anything, in a submersible pouch, but mostly we don't really need continuous chart plotting to get from A to B. If I was sailing somewhere where it was really necessary to be looking at the chart every minute, I 'd probably buy a proper chart plotter.

On a nice day, it's good to have Navionics, so you can see how far you can go inshore, explore a bit etc etc.
If it gets rough, then the old way of staying in 20m of water and following the buoyage still works.